Who is (or was) the greatest sportsman of all time?

I think Ellen MacArthur deserves a mention. The woman's a bloody legend. I couldn't believe it when David Beckham won the BBC sports personality of the year a few years back, in a year where England crashed out of every tournament and Ellen had sailed around the world single handed in her early twenties (IIRC)...

AND, she was the fastest star in a reasonably priced car on top gear - is there nothing she can't do?

Phil

quote:

Originally posted by Macker:
I feel you have missed the thrust of my comment....

Perhaps. It seems to me you are suggesting that a mediocre driver be nominated as the Greatest Sportsperson Of All Time, based largely on the particular gonads that driver happened to be packing whilst achieving said mediocrity. Is that close?

As the TT is currently running I'm gonna propose a man from my homeland - Joey Dunlop.

I'm not a bike follower but the number of years that man dominated the crazy world of road bike racing and his dedication to the sport was astonishing.

By all accounts a thoroughly decent bloke with it.

I was tempted to propose Lance Armstrong as his performance in the Tours de France was mind blowing. The main thing holding me back is a long running concern that he and many others may have achieved their greatness with the help of a great medical team. I hope history proves me wrong.

Peter

....

quote:

Originally posted by Nigel Cavendish:
The French hate anyone who wins Le Tour who is not French.[...]

Armstrong was a Tour specialist and made no secret of it.

From what I could gather here (not far from the French border), the French were shocked following LeMond's victory, but I can't recall about any special animosity towards him, at least not for long. The most famous episode of the day was when a local journalist asked Fignon some silly question and got sweared and shouted at by the Frenchman who was understandably not particularly happy about the outcome.

Miguel Indurain won the Tour five times and I cannot remember any bad feelings towards him. Some people expressed their boredom and others asked the usual questions about chemistry but not more than usual. Admiration was genuine as a rule.

Like Armstrong, Indurain was also rarely seen on races apart from the Tour, nowadays it's maybe a requirement but I still think it's not a good evolution. It's as if Roger Federer trained all year long on the lawn at Wimbledon in order to win just that tournament because it's the most famous one. Play the game, man.

In the case of Armstrong it was very clear to me that the French kind of 'didn't want to have anything to do with that guy'. When he raised the cup on the Champs-Elysées after his 7th victory, few people cheered him, the whole audience seemed unwell. Lance has provoked this partly by himself by saying disrespectful rubbish (to Basso and Ullrich) on the podium, and correcting himself right after.

Lance Armstrong was certainly an exceptional sportsman but his personality and aura isn't quite comparable to the one of Ali or Pelé.

quote:

Originally posted by bob mccluckie:
Never heard of any of them.

Grandmaster Yip-Man?

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Tate:

quote:

Originally posted by bob mccluckie:
Never heard of any of them.

Grandmaster Yip-Man?

Helio Gracie

Would that be father/brother/uncle/son of Royce Gracie?

Muhammad Ali - Jet Johnson is correct.

Don't worry JCS, Google has come to my aid...

quote:

Originally posted by jayd:

quote:

Originally posted by Macker:
I feel you have missed the thrust of my comment....

Perhaps. It seems to me you are suggesting that a mediocre driver be nominated as the Greatest Sportsperson Of All Time, based largely on the particular gonads that driver happened to be packing whilst achieving said mediocrity. Is that close?

Nope - not even close.... ;-)

Tommy Smith, ex-Liverpool FC.

Eddie - the 'Eagle'.

Flew like a brick.

I've changed my mind from Ali to Lewis Hamilton.